Ball (NYSE:BALL) Raised to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ball (NYSE:BALL) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Morgan Stanley currently has $78.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $69.00.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ball from $56.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ball from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ball from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $70.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ball from $73.00 to $66.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ball from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $69.85.

Ball Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BALL opened at $64.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $19.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.84, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.18. Ball has a fifty-two week low of $42.81 and a fifty-two week high of $71.32. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $64.92.

Ball (NYSE:BALL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.04. Ball had a return on equity of 19.45% and a net margin of 32.79%. The company had revenue of $2.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ball will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ball Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Ball’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.02%.

Institutional Trading of Ball

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BALL. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Ball by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Ball during the 1st quarter worth about $47,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Ball in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ball by 2,341.5% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Ball by 598.6% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.51% of the company’s stock.

Ball Company Profile

Ball Corporation supplies aluminum packaging products for the beverage, personal care, and household products industries in the United States, Brazil, and internationally. The company manufactures and sells aluminum beverage containers to fillers of carbonated soft drinks, beer, energy drinks, and other beverages.